Rollo

Rollo (846-932) was Jarl of Normandy (Count of Rouen) from 911 to 927, preceding William I Longsword. He was granted Normandy by Charles the Simple of West Francia, and Normandy took its name from Rollo's "Northmen" (Norwegian vikings); he died in 932, beginning a line of Norman rulers from the House of Normandy.

Biography
Rollo was born in 846, coming from a noble Norse warrior family in Norway. He made himself independent of King Harald Fairhair and raided Scotland, Ireland, England, and Flanders before settling in the valley of the lower Seine in France, securing a permanent foothold on Frankish soil after raiding West Francia down the Seine River. Rollo agreed to end his brigandage and defend France from other vikings in return for King Charles the Simple granting him the County of Rouen; the land that the Northmen settled in became known as "Normandy" as a result. Rollo remained loyal to Charles even after his deposition, and he defeated and killed the usurper Robert I of France at Soissons on 15 June 923. Rollo himself died in 932, and his son William I Longsword succeeded him as Jarl of Normandy.